Superheroes and their powerful villain counterparts are a popular theme for the comic book industry. Local food blogger Darlene Horn plans to shake things up at this year’s Comic-Con International as she battles food snobs and the “three stages of hunger” in her debut comic book “The Girl With the Donut Tattoo.”

Though it has a similar title to the popular crime novel by late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, the books could not be more different.

“(My husband) and I were brainstorming funny stories and ideas to include in the graphic novel,” Horn said. “I thought of ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,’ and it sounded really good as the title so I went with it.”

Horn described the comic book as “a blog, but made of dead trees.” The idea came about after a friend suggested she compile posts from her blog, “My Burning Kitchen,” into an anthology.

Horn works as a graphics and design artist for the San Diego Business Journal; both she and her husband are also former Union-Tribune staffers. She started her food blog in 2005 as an attempt to keep an online diary of her cooking mishaps.

“My first few years of blogging are actually quite embarrassing. When I moved out to L.A. for a while, I got more serious about it. I started improving my photography and writing about different local places,” Horn said.

During her seven years of blogging, Horn established herself as a foodie to look out for.

Her photos have been featured on sites including The Huffington Post and Endless Simmer. “My Burning Kitchen” was also recognized by the San Diego Press Club in 2011 as a top entertainment website.

For her debut publication, Horn teamed up with husband Paul Horn, a freelance graphics artist, cartoonist and creator of the comic book series “Cool Jerk.”

“We started sketching ideas around March,” Paul Horn said. “(‘Donut Tattoo’) was easier than a typical comic in that it is just a collection of amusing ideas that don’t require any particular order. Darlene came up with the scenes and dialogue, and I added the sketches for comedic affect.”

Though “Donut Tattoo” is not a word-for-word transcription of “My Burning Kitchen,” it features a number of moments previously discussed in the blog.

Each page is a snapshot of Darlene Horn’s life as a food blogger, with her husband and his witty commentary by her side.

Scenes in the book include “the trials and tribulations of eating with a food blogger,” as well as the unfortunate consequences of eating too many prunes while making the lamb with dried plums stew from author Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games” trilogy.

Like her blog, the comic also includes several recipes such as Belgian waffles and her husband’s Kahlúa Bundt cake.

A publication of Paul Horn’s HornCo Press, “Donut Tattoo” will be at his Comic-Con booth.

Though Darlene Horn attended the convention in previous years to help promote “Cool Jerk,” this will be her first time advertising for herself.

“Paul and I joke about how I tend to wander away from his table during Comic-Con even though I’m supposed to be helping him,” Horn said. “This year I will actually have to be at the table the entire time because I’m the actual author.”